GENEVA, Jan 29: The UN failed to break a deadlock at Syrian peace negotiations in Geneva with talks interrupted after the regime railed against Washington instead of dealing with a transition of power.
There was also no movement on bringing relief to besieged residents in Syria’s central city of Homs, where UN trucks are waiting for access to deliver desperately needed food and medical aid.
After a difficult morning meeting on the fourth day of talks, UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said that he had decided to cancel afternoon talks and reconvene the parties for “what I hope will be a better session” today morning.
“Nobody is walking out, nobody is running away,” Brahimi told reporters adding, “We have not achieved any breakthrough, but we are still at it, and this is good enough as far as I’m concerned.”
A member of the opposition negotiating team, Rima Fleihan, told reporters that Brahimi adjourned the meeting “because the regime is not cooperating on any subject, not on humanitarian issues and not on a transitional governing body”.
She said the opposition had presented a preliminary transition plan laying out its “vision” for Syria, but the regime refused to engage in talks.
“We have a vision, unfortunately the regime presented nothing and refused all discussion,” Fleihan said.
Yesterday’s session saw delegates from President Bashar al-Assad’s regime present a statement it wanted adopted that condemned Washington.
The statement, obtained by reporters, said “the United States has made a decision to resume arming terrorist groups in Syria”.
“This decision can only be understood as a direct attempt to obstruct any political solution in Syria through dialogue,” it said.
It follows a report from the Reuters news agency that the US Congress secretly approved funding for weapons deliveries to “moderate” Syrian rebel factions.
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad said that showed Washington “is not interested in the success” of the peace process.
A State Department spokesman, Edgar Vasquez, dismissed accusations of Washington supporting terrorism as “ludicrous”.
“The Assad regime is a magnet for terrorists. The regime’s brutality is the source of the violent extremism in Syria today,” he said in a statement.
“We support the moderate political and military opposition who are fighting for the freedom and dignity of all the Syrian people.” (AGENCIES)

WASHINGTON, Jan 29: The US may station a small force in Afghanistan post-2014 but America’s longest war will finally be over by the end of this year, US President Barack Obama said today.
In his annual State of the Union Address to the Congress, Obama said a small force would remain in the war-torn country but did not give the number of the US troops that would be stationed in Afghanistan after 2014 drawdown.
Obama, in his address, reiterated that the US troops will be engaged in carrying out training, assisting Afghan forces and in counter-terrorism operations to pursue any remnants of the al-Qaeda.
“If the Afghan Government signs a (bilateral) security agreement that we have negotiated, a small force of Americans could remain in Afghanistan with NATO allies to carry out two narrow missions: training and assisting Afghan forces, and counter-terrorism operations to pursue any remnants of al-Qaeda,” Obama said.
“For while our relationship with Afghanistan will change, one thing will not: our resolve that terrorists do not launch attacks against our country,” Obama said, noting that after 2014 US will support a unified Afghanistan as it takes responsibility for its own future.
Obama said more than 60,000 of its troops have already come home from Afghanistan.
“With Afghan forces now in the lead for their own security, our troops have moved to a support role. Together with our allies, we will complete our mission there by the end of this year, and America’s longest war will finally be over,” he said.
Referring to America’s war against terrorism, Obama said the US was still not safe.
“The fact is, that danger remains. While we have put al- Qaeda’s core leadership on a path to defeat, the threat has evolved, as al-Qaeda affiliates and other extremists take root in different parts of the world.
“In Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, and Mali, we have to keep working with partners to disrupt and disable these networks,” Obama said.
“In Syria, we’ll support the opposition that rejects the agenda of terrorist networks. Here at home, we’ll keep strengthening our defenses, and combat new threats like cyber attacks. And as we reform our defense budget, we have to keep faith with our men and women in uniform and invest in the capabilities they need to succeed in future missions,” he said. (AGENCIES)

SEOUL, Jan 29: South Korea has voiced regret after North Korea offered no response to a proposal for talks on resuming reunions for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.
In a cross-border message earlier this week, Seoul’s Unification Ministry had suggested working-level talks today to work out details for holding a reunion event.
But as of today morning, the North had yet to respond.
“We find it regrettable that the North is showing such an attitude after the two Koreas have already agreed to hold the family reunion,” the Unification Ministry said in a statement.
“The aged members of the separated families are anxiously waiting for a chance to reunite with their relatives,” it added.
North Korea unexpectedly announced on Friday that it was willing to hold a reunion event – the latest in a series of conciliatory gestures from Pyongyang that the South has treated with scepticism.
Pyongyang said the dates could be chosen by the South, which promptly suggested February 17-21 at the North’s Mount Kumgang resort.
That would sandwich the gathering between the February 16 birthday of North Korea’s late leader Kim Jong-Il – an important national holiday – and annual South Korea-US joint military exercises that are scheduled to begin at the end of the month.
“Given the North said we could set the date… We urge the North to accept our proposed dates and respond to the requested working-level meeting as quickly as possible,” the Unification Ministry said.
The South-US drills are held every year and are routinely condemned by the North as a rehearsal for invasion.
Pyongyang has made several demands that this year’s exercises be called off, but Seoul insists they will go ahead.
A reunion event had been planned last September but Pyongyang cancelled at the last minute, and there are concerns it will do the same this time around, citing the military drills as the reason.
The first reunions were held in 2000 following an historic inter-Korean summit. Sporadic events since then have seen around 17,000 relatives briefly reunited.
But the programme has been suspended since the North’s shelling of a South Korean border island in November 2010.
Millions of Koreans were left separated by the 1950-53 conflict which sealed the peninsula’s division.
Most have died without seeing their relatives again, with personal cross-border contact, including postal and phone communication, banned for decades.
Only about 100 people on each side are selected for each event. (AGENCIES)